3 Outstanding Community-Building Activities for Back to School

How do you lay the foundation for real community in your classroom? Teachers know (and the research supports this) that when kids feel safe and connected in school, they’re better equipped to focus on learning. The start of a new school year is a crucial time for this type of work – and it goes beyond icebreakers. 

In this episode of School of Practice, we’ll hear from three educators who’ve developed powerful activities for building robust classroom cultures, including a strategy for co-creating classroom norms, an exercise that gets students discovering what they have in common, and a memorable 60-second trust-building activity. Together, these activities go beyond typical icebreakers – and set the stage for a classroom where students feel they belong.

Related resources:

• Learn more about this episode
• Building Classroom Community Through Daily Dedications (video)
• A Daily Ritual That Builds Trust and Community Among Students
• Establishing Connections in a New Classroom Community (video)
• Fostering Belonging With Classroom Norms (video)
• Research: Impact of School-Based Interventions for Building School Belonging in Adolescence: a Systematic Review
• Research: Teacher–Student Relationships and Student Outcomes: A Systematic Second-Order Meta-Analytic Review.
• Not Light, but Fire: How to Lead Meaningful Race Conversations in the Classroom
• Child’s Play in Action
• WMPG’s Blunt Youth Radio